This two phase business. They start the kids young when the jaws are still malleable,even when they still have some baby teeth. When that phase is done, they cement in a retainer for a couple of years. Once all the adult teeth come in, they take a 2nd look and see if any additional work needs to be done. It prevents them having to pull teeth and do other nasty work. I checked out a few orthdontists. This way didnt cost any more and it is less painful.

I had 10 teeth pulled before I went into braces in the 6th grade. They had to go up into my gums to take out adult teeth because I didnt have enough room for them to come down. I'm short 8 teeth in my mouth now. My kids have the same mouth structure, so if I can avoid having to have them go through that, all the better.